SCMP.....
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Fit-again stars back in action for patient owners
MURRAY BELL
Owners who doubt their trainer when he calls up and reports an injury to their four-legged pride and joy should have a good look behind the scenes in Monday's Sha Tin Sprint Trophy and get a sobering reality check.
Heading the list of what can go wrong with a thoroughbred racehorse is last year's winner of this race, Sunny Sing, who hasn't raced since his fifth to Absolute Champion in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint last December. Sunny Sing, who had always been a sound horse, was sidelined after that race with a significant tendon injury.
Crack straight-course sprinter Able Prince simply failed to participate last start. He stood there when the gates were open, missed the start hopelessly, and was ordered back to the trials by stewards.
Flaming Lamborgini won the National Day Cup in course record time on this programme last year. He was so brilliant in that victory, who could have imagined he would have an entire year off? But after the onset of a suspensory ligament injury, that's exactly what happened.
Royal Delight has won twice first-up in Hong Kong, in addition to his three-from-three scoreline in Australia where he raced as War Of The Worlds.
At his last start, in February, Royal Delight pulled up making a breathing noise but it was a minor issue compared to the problem subsequently identified - he has since had bone chips removed from his left knee by arthroscopic surgery.
Not only that, but when he is finally fit for a return to the track, his jockey is not. Shane Dye is missing from the National Day line-up, though the good news yesterday was that he has received medical clearance and should be right to take mounts for the October 7 meeting.
Expectations is just getting old, but he has been through the wars. In 2004, he broke his pelvis and required a long period of rehabilitation.
And then there's Sacred Kingdom, the four-year-old whose last-start defeat in course record time by Medic Power in June was handled badly by his connections.
Even though jockey Danny Nikolic gave the gelding every chance, and even though the rider had helped educate and guide him through to win his first five starts, a defeat at the sixth time of asking meant not only the sack for Nikolic, but a litany of gossip and innuendo that ultimately caused him to fold his tent and head home to Australia.
Scintillation, who will carry the number one saddle cloth, is one of the best gallopers in town. He's the winner of 12 races, a Group One winner at the diverse distances of 1,000m and 1,600m, and has banked almost HK$22 million for owner Hui Sai-fun.
But his internal soundness is suspect, he has already broken blood vessels in his lungs once, resulting in a "bleed" through both nostrils after a race. A repeat at any time would see him barred for life.
But it's not all doom and gloom. If ever an owner wants some encouragement, have a look at a horse like Planet Ruler, who gave Silent Witness a fright in this race in 2004.
Planet Ruler has now won six races, but he's also accumulated prize money through 11 seconds and 12 thirds, for earnings of HK$18.2 million. He's eight years old, been racing since April 2002, and his official veterinary examination page on the Jockey Club website is a blank sheet.
Who said total soundness in the racehorse was impossible to achieve?
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